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The American Frontier: Technology versus Immigration

Guillaume Vandenbroucke
University of Iowa - Henry B. Tippie College of Business - Department of Economics

Review of Economic Dynamics, Vol. 11, No.2, pp. 283-301, April 2008

Abstract:
How important was international immigration for the U.S. and its demography during the nineteenth century? This paper investigates, quantitatively, its effect on the westward movement of population and the regional and secular changes in fertility. Beside immigration, two alternative forces are considered: technological progress and the land policy (the Homestead Act). An optimal growth model with endogenous fertility and migration is calibrated, and counterfactual experiments reveal that the main driving forces were productivity growth and the declining cost of transportation. International immigration played a lesser role.

Keywords: Population growth, Migration, Fertility, Westward Expansion

JEL Classifications: E1, J1, O1

Accepted Paper Series

Date posted: September 19, 2007 ; Last revised: October 07, 2008

Suggested Citation

Vandenbroucke, Guillaume, The American Frontier: Technology versus Immigration (April 2008). Review of Economic Dynamics, Vol. 11, No.2, pp. 283-301, April 2008. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=998030

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Guillaume Vandenbroucke (Contact Author)

University of Iowa - Henry B. Tippie College of Business - Department of Economics ( email )

108 Pappajohn Building
W 370
Iowa City, IA 52242
United States
+1 319-384-1980 (Phone)

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